


A Soft Touch

by Layers_bloody_sun



Category: One Piece
Genre: Blood and Injury, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hugging, Long-Distance Relationship, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, long distance healing, they have a kid hanging around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:27:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27944543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layers_bloody_sun/pseuds/Layers_bloody_sun
Summary: every time she lays a finger on him, warmth washes over him. it's the sweetest feeling, he wish it never ended. but it does, every time.
Relationships: Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	A Soft Touch

**Author's Note:**

> self indulgent fic with a self insert? yep. written for a friend

Every time, it took him by surprise, how soft she was, despite all the scars on her body. They weren’t entirely hers, he knew that, some of these were even his to begin with. And her softness took them away. He remembered each time as clear as if he was living them right now.

The **first time** , their first encounter, they were still kids. Law had been with Doflamingo for about a year, training every day. He still had no idea how to cure himself but as long as he kept inside the family, he’d be fine. Eventually. The reason behind Dracule Mihawk’s visit that day had never been clear, probably just a personal meeting between two shishibukai, but the fact was, he had brough his daughter along. Her hair was the first thing that strike him, ice blue, cold, almost white. A total contrast from her father, it was like she was his opposite, blue and gray where he was red and black. She seemed disinterested about what was going on around her; until she spotted him. The way she tilted her head while her eyes were rived on him made him shiver; it was like being seen by a predator. The smile she gave him was sweet however. The two War Lords went to discuss in a room, leaving her alone at the door. She was sitting quietly, looking through the window. For some reason Law couldn’t take his eyes off her, baby 5 had tried to talk to her earlier but something freaked her out immediately and she simply went away, crying.

“They say staring is rude you know.”

Despite his efforts at staying discrete it seemed she had noticed him, and easily considering she had barely moved her head from what she was watching. Her remark had surprised him but he wasn’t going to let it show. He went toward her, bravely but cautiously, and sat on the opposite side of the door, leaving a decent space between the two of them. The kid was still wary, she didn’t look mean or as bad as other pirates, but her father had a cold aura to him. She probably wasn’t much better. When she extended her hand to him with another kind smile, he couldn’t help but take the handshake.

“My name is Neo, what’s yours?”  
“Law. Trafalgar Law.”

The girl simply nodded but didn’t let go of his hand, making him a bit uncomfortable. Even worse was the way she eyed him again, analyzing all she was seeing, as if she was taking note of how frail and wounded, he was; he hated it. But before he could snatch his hand away, she looked him straight in the eyes and asked with a serious face

“You wanna see something cool?”

Too shook to utter a rational answer he managed a small ‘yeah?’. Before he knew what was happening, blue light appeared from her hand, gently going up his arm before disappearing under his clothes. He could feel himself getting better, the remanent pain from his numerous cuts and bruises slowly fading, giving place to a warm feeling of calm. He hadn’t felt this way for so long, a single tear streamed down his cheek. Law could still feel that not everything was gone, his sickness was still there, but he still looked at Neo in awe. The grin she gave him brough blush to his face, he turned it so as to not let her see, lowering his head to get the help of his hat; he also wiped the tear away. In doing so he let go of her hand, the warmth going away just as fast as it came; he didn’t dare ask for it back. The boy noticed her pulling her sleeves back down, and a bruise that hadn’t be there before was now on her cheekbone. Exactly where his had been. Before he could worry about it, she asked

“Hey Law, what do you want to be when you’ll be older?”

The question took him aback, he wanted to counter and ask about her sudden bruises, but the way she was peacefully looking outside again stopped him. For some reason he wanted to be frank with her, and yet.

“I won’t be older…I’m sick, and there’s no cure. Not even your magic thing cured it. I’ll die before I become an adult”  
“Well, what if you could? Even when you’re healthy there’s no saying you’ll ever get old, doesn’t mean you can’t dream. Plus, you don’t have to be an adult to do great thing; Mihawk was the best swordsman in the world before turning 19, didn’t he?”

Why was she calling him by his last name, wasn’t he her father? Law checked the corridor; it didn’t seem like there was anyone else than them…

“I…want to be a pirate, and a doctor like my parents... I want to go out on Grand Line and see the world…I…I want to find the One Piece; I want to be better than everyone else!”

She giggled, and his blush came back, although this time from shame. Of course, she didn’t care, why would she take seriously the dreams of a kid she would never see again after today. He felt stupid until she opened her mouth again

“That’s a big dream! Can’t wait to see you go for it!”

She kept silent for a moment before adding

“I’m sorry I can’t help with your sickness, but I’m sure there’s someone or something out there that’ll be able to. So don’t give up.”  
“Easier said than done.”  
“Hmm…what about a promise then?”

She smiled and handed him her hand again, another big grin splattered on her face.

“Let’s promise we’ll see each other again on the sea some day! When we’ll be older! I don’t want to be a pirate, but an adventurer, I want to discover all there is in the New World, the lost history, see new cultures and civilizations! Hehe, I guess in the eye of the Marine it’ll be the same kind of trouble as a pirate. If we both head for something so big, we’ll have to run into each other again! So, how does that sound?”

Law looked at her, at this weird kid he has only known for an hour or so. Her happiness seemed out of this world; he didn’t get how you could still be so genuinely excited to be alive on such an earth. And yet. He took her hand and shook it. Why? Maybe he was still hopping to have a chance, maybe because he wanted her off with her stupid hopes and dreams, maybe because the memory of the warmth she had given him was still fogging his thoughts. He shook it firmly, for the first time in a long while, believing that yes, he’d live to see her again. By the time they’d cross path once more, she would probably have forgotten him, but right now it didn’t matter: he truly wanted to see her again.

They started to chit chat, like two normal kids would. It felt…nice, to open up even just a little about himself. They talked about a bit of anything, but the conversation got interesting when it turned out she had quite the medical knowledge as well. For the first time in a year, Law laughed with his heart. The door opened soon after, both kids, in a reflex, getting up immediately as to not be in the way. Neo looked cold once again, just like when she arrived, somehow it made him happy to think he had made her let the front down for a while, just for him. He was going to miss her. Dracule was the one to get out first, seeming annoyed at best. ‘Waste of time’ he heard him mutter. The dark-haired man called for his daughter and she followed suit without batting an eye. The boy’s heart missed a bit when she turned around to look at him; she smiled and mouthed something along the lines of ‘keep your promise’. Later that day, when the two had been long gone from the island, Law held his hand against his chest. He could still remember how soft her hand had been in his, how warm it was. The promise kept him going for much longer than he though it ever could.

The **second time** , they both were 15. Law had already met and befriended the three people who would become his most precious crewmate, especially Bepo, as well as other potential crew members. They hadn’t started sailing to far yet, Law wanted to make sure they’d be ready for the Grand Line, and it meant getting better. He had grown since; he was able to smile now. Every now and then he would gently stroke his left hand with his thumb. He had kept his promise and survived, now was to find Her again. Mihawk hadn’t made anything to appear in the newspapers, his daughter was just as silent. Had she already set sail toward the new world, found friends, ancient stories and places; was she already living her dream? He wanted to join her, to show she had been right to give him hope, but he wasn’t strong enough yet. He had seen her, in dreams; it all felt so real thought, he could still remember clearly the talks they had, the games they played, at first. Lately he didn’t see her as much, it had been months since the last time. It wasn’t real, he kept telling himself, and what it could show was how she had influenced him and how he was finally letting go of someone that probably forgot him. But he didn’t want to let go, that was the problem.

Now, how Neo appeared next him, he wasn’t sure anymore. He was alone on the beach, reminiscing these old memories, and suddenly, she was landing, more like crashing really, next to him. Had she come from behind, from the forest? Had she got thrown off her boat by the waves? Or had she simply crashed from the sky right next to him? His memory had put that aside, too focused on the mass of blue hair he had kept dreaming about for the last 7 years. Neo was face down on the sand and it took her a moment before pushing on her elbows, getting up with a grunt. She wiped the sand off her face with a cough and looked around her, still shaken by the landing, she seemed startled when she spotted someone else so close to her. After a quick look thought, she seemed to spot his hat, and a wide grin spread on her face.

“Law?”

The way her eyes started to shine when she pushed up again, forcing her legs to stand up, the way her whole face had lit up when she recognize he was the kid she had met so long ago; it melted his heart. No one had never seemed so happy to see him, and that’s probably why despite not liking physical contact much, he jumped into her arms and held her close. Just like that time, she was so warm, it flooded his body. Neo giggled and gave the hug back, gently resting her chin against his shoulder. She had been taller than him last time, now they were about the same height. Law felt her fists tighten on his shirt as she pulled him as close as she could

“I though…We heard… about what happened with Corazon, Don told me you were dead- this sick son of a bitch trying to do I don’t know what!!- I…I’m so glad he was wrong…I’m so glad I didn’t stop hoping…”  
“You still hoped, even after almost a decade?”  
“Hey, we made a promise didn’t we!”

She broke from the hug only to look at him, like she was still fearing it wasn’t real. If he had only grown, she had changed: her hair was longer, kept in place in some kind of messy bun, her eyes were just as cold as that time, and she still smiled with all her teeth, but her body was covered in scars. He couldn’t see clearly but he was pretty sure it was the same under her clothes. The part of him with medical knowledge wanted to see, to make sure she was okay, but it wasn’t like he would ever dare. The girl giggled again, shaking him out of it, and took his hand in hers, squeezing

“But you did it! You’re cured!”

They stayed like this for a few more minutes, just appreciating them founding the other back, as unexpected as it was. The sun was still high when they sat down to talk, just catching up on everything that happened. It was so weird in a way; they had only met once, so long ago, and yet it was like talking to an old friend he had known forever. It seemed to be the same for Neo, at no point did they stop chatting to be in an awkward silence, every pause was peaceful, welcome, a quick break before going back into a whirlwind of words. She listened when he talked about how hard it was after losing Corazon, he laughed when she mentioned what her little sister was throwing down upon their poor father. They talked and talked, laughed and smiled, for so long they didn’t keep track. Then they shared the dreams. It was a bit difficult, the fear of being judged was there, but after a bit of hard thinking and an extensive use of their memory, it turned out they had had the same dreams at about the same days or periods.

“It might be because I healed you that day… I still didn’t know how far it could go; I just knew I could take someone’s pain away… I might as well have linked us in some way”  
“Is that why you had my bruises on you afterwards? You ‘took my pain away’?”  
“Yeah, I exchange it with the one I heal. In a way I exchange status, I get the ‘wounded’ status and the person gets the ‘healed’ status. I’ve practiced since, you know, I’m getting good at it!”

She looked at him, a flash going through her eyes, and took his hand with a grin, making him unable to hide his lightly blushed cheeks

“Hey Law?”  
“What?”  
“Wanna see something cool?”

The teenager looked at her for a moment before remembering, a small smile on his lips

“Yeah?”

Neo giggled a little, moving her hand up his wrist and on his forearm. God her hand was so warm on is skin, and yet he had a shiver go down his spine at her touch. The underside of her hand started to glow, the same blue light, but instead of spreading on him like last time it stayed under her palm. It was so warm it almost burned, but barely a minute later she let go and he had a blue mark on the inside of his forearm; it was pretty, a sort of sunflower but only the contour. He looked up, wondering what she was playing at, but surely interested in whatever it was.

“Get hurt or something, you’ll get it.”

She seemed so sure of herself he didn’t even consider her mocking him. He took a small knife out of his belt and slightly cut his hand, barely enough to hurt. To his dismay the mark glowed on its own and the wound closed almost immediately. Totally flabbergasted, Law looked up at Neo again, seeing her lick the blood off her own palm where the same wound had suddenly opened.

“With this, I can heal anyone, no matter the distance.”  
“But you get hurt instead…”  
“Details. Anyway, see this as my gift for when you and your crew finally set for Grand Line. You’ll need it.”  
“Neo that’s too much, do you even control it entirely or does it set off by itself? What if I get a mortal wound, would it go to you? How many of these scars are yours to begin with?”

The blue-haired girl seemed taken aback, like she had not expected this reaction. Her smile almost disappeared and he regretted his words a bit, but he couldn’t just let herself take everything just for his sake. She composed herself again and calmly explained

“I’ve practiced, like I said, I know how to dose it so that I just close the important wounds, and again not entirely, just so it doesn’t become a problem; small scratch like that wouldn’t count, I know you can heal them yourself. I just want to help; a few scars aren’t that bad… I mean, you’ve already been through so much shit, and sure, I won’t be opening your path to glory, or be there all the time to make sure you reach your goal, you can do that yourself you don’t need me… I just want to help on the side, just a little, just enough so that you don’t die…”

Law kept silent; it was clearer with each word that she wouldn’t take her mark back, maybe she couldn’t do that at all. Neo looked down at her feet for a moment, before raising her head toward the ocean, deciding on one final phrase to conclude her thoughts.

“If I can save someone that I care for this deeply, it doesn’t matter what it takes. I’ll do it.”  
“Am I this dear to you?”

It seemed unthinkable, all the interaction they had had for the past 7 years had been through dreams, nothing they could have held as reality up until today. And yet she cared? She cared so much that she’d put her life on the line if it meant he’d survive? That was something you would use for your family, for very close friends, not…not for whatever relationship they had. And yet Law would do the same for her, he just knew it. Because to him she was so important…. because she was…

“You’re my first friend. Aside from Rem and dad? Never cared this deeply for someone. I know it must sound weird, I mean we haven’t seen each other in what, almost eight years? If we don’t count the dreams of course. And yet you still…you still matter to me, so much… I don’t know how to explain it…”  
“You don’t have to.”

His tone had been softer than he had anticipated, but it was fine. He understood what she felt like, once again surprised but relieved: they felt the same about each other. It felt…good to know. And it was even clearer she wouldn’t change her mind; he didn’t have the energy to try and convince her. He knew she couldn’t do it to him either if their role was reversed. Instead, he changed subject, asked if she had started to get a crew for her dream; surely, she couldn’t hope to simply face the seas by herself. Neo seemed relieved and jumped on the topic with a smile once again. They spoke of their own friends, hers were more recent than his, but she had started to find people she could trust, that had the same interest in discovering the world. They spoke again with little to no break, simply chatting about what they were planning to do. The sun started to get down.

“I should go, dad’s gonna start being worried, I’ve been gone for a few days already… And I’d rather not let him destroy a few ship on his search…”

She got up, stretching her legs. His own were worn out too after sitting for so many hours. He didn’t want to say goodbye yet, he still wanted to chat, to have her close. She made him feel warm by just being there. But his crew was probably getting worried too, it was unusual for him to be gone for so long. So, he got up as well. Without a warning, Neo hugged him tight, but too quickly for his taste; he didn’t even get to give it back. They exchanged a small goodbye, she patted him on the arm

“Next time we’ll probably see each other on the Grand Line!”

Law nodded, another promise in a way. Going away was the hardest part, so he tried to detach himself from her presence as fast as he could, walking toward where he left his crew earlier on. He couldn’t help but look back, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only proof this had happen was the mark on his forearm. He gently slid his thumb over it. It was warm.

They actually crossed path quite a few more times before the Grand Line, in the course of another seven-year period. Both were doing just fine and like she had promised, Neo didn’t use her mark to heal him. Too much. That’s why the **third time** , when they found themselves fighting something so much bigger than them, he didn’t expect it to be any different.  
Grand Line’s islands were known to be unpredictable, and if they weren’t able to go through them, there was no hope to reach the new world in one piece, yet alone go through it. It was a weird island the Heart pirates had landed on, as if it had been stopped in time long ago. After exploring for a day and half, they found the entrance to what seemed to be a temple. Going in was easy, all traps had either already been set off or destroyed. Law could hear his crewmates debate over whether there would be treasure or if it had already all been taken away. He was more worried about the few skeletons they had seen. They entered a room that had probably be where the treasure had been kept; they started to disperse to look around, but quickly realized what they had thought was a statue in the center was actually a creature taller than they had ever seen, and dozens upon dozens of bones were surrounding it.

Sadly, running away from a beast with such an aura turned out to be out of the question, as another monster blocked their escape. And so, they had no choice but to fight. It went on for what felt like hours, somehow no one getting mortally wounded, but they would need days to get back up. His mark glowed slightly, helping close the deeper cut but not healing them entirely. The first beast came down and the second one was badly hurt. They all were out of breath, barely standing. Law’s left eye was covered in red, as a deep gush in his forehead kept bleeding. He took a step closer to the beast, readying his last blow, when it moved forward and clawed at him. In the same breath, the monster came down, and the captain found himself with three deep laceration on his torso. The pain was so great he couldn’t utter a sound; and yet it paled in front of the sheer terror he felt when he saw his mark glow, felt it burn into his flesh, and all three wounds disappeared as if there had never been anything there, only the laceration on his shirt proved it was there. Neo had taken it all. Somewhere on the sea, she had the same terrible wounds, and she was probably bleeding out.

Even if he was in front of his crew, he couldn’t help a few tears to fell from his eyes. Law couldn’t tear his eyes off the mark, it was hot, it felt just like when Neo would put her hand over his skin. He stood in silence in the treasure room, his crew understanding what had happened as well and respectfully keeping their distance. They did not know Neo as well as he did, but having met her and see her interact with their captain was enough to know how he was feeling at the moment. They themselves felt deeply worried. It was close to impossible to survive such a wound without immediate medical assistance. She had a medic on her crew, but with her it was just as likely that she wasn’t with them at the moment, as she liked to take lonely stroll over the seas.

Law was holding his arm, his palm over the mark, clinging to it. It was still warm. He could use it like a vivre card, he reasoned: if it was warm and in full shape, she was fine as well, right? Right? If she was dead or dying his mark would fade or get cold, that made sense didn’t it? As terrified as he was of losing her, there was no way of knowing for sure. He composed himself and they gathered to treat their wounds. They rested in the room for a few hours, until the sun was setting, then they started to gather the treasures laying around. Bepo helped chopped down the beasts to make food, the others looked around. Penguin actually found an interesting carving which he called his captain over for: it looked like an angel, but with three set of wings and two halos in the form of intertwined crowns. The paint had faded but it seemed that blue was the main color in the piece. Behind the angel was an unknown creature, black, mouth full of spiky teeth pointed at the sky; it looked as if it faded into the sea, with many arms reaching in all directions. The angel had a scythe in hand. A depiction of a reaper maybe? It reminded him of Neo, the blue and wings, the scythe as well. Blue was her main color, she had mentioned using a scythe instead of a sword because it felt more ‘gracious’, and on her back were six scars that would match the placement of the wings. It was probably too far-fetched and it made him smile a little. The monster however, was a crude depiction of something Neo had described to him a few years ago: a monster that had grabbed her with many hands and tried to drag her to the bottom of the sea.  
The doctor decided he didn’t like this place much, it made him uneasy. They hurried back to their ship but stayed anchored there for the night. The crew tried to evaluate how much money the treasure would be worth. It was ancient for sure; Law noticed a few things that he put aside to look more into when he had the head space for it. Things Neo would like or already know about.

“There was a wanted poster in one of the chests too, but it’s over 200 years old. Maybe the owner of the treasure at the time?”

Looking up to see what that was about, Law was quite surprised to see Neo’s face. No, not exactly hers, but it looked a lot like her. An ancestor perhaps? The bounty was higher than the one of a Shishibukai, it would have been enough today to immediately be one of the emperors, yet the treasure they had found wasn’t that enormous. Maybe it had been taken away little by little by passing pirates. The captain took it aside with the rest, he wanted to show it to the adventurer next time they’d see each other. If she survived the wounds that was; but if he trusted the mark low glowing, she was still alive. The poster was old but in a good shape, he could still read the name: Neolalia. A weird name, but the resemblance of both that and the face was even worse.  
When they retired for the night, even though he didn’t believe in God, Law prayed for his friend’s safety. Neo needed to survive; they had a promise. They’d reach the end of Grand Line together. No matter how long it’d take. The sleep he fell into was calmer than expected, and rested him more than a normal night of sleep usually does. When he woke up, he felt strangely assured that Neo was fine. He couldn’t remember what he dreamed of, but when forcing on it, all that came back was the feeling of a soft touch. Somehow, he knew it meant she was fine. Only her touch felt that way. It was warm.

The **fourth time** came later on, the Heart pirates had reached the red line, ready to go to fishman island, but Straw-hat and his own crew had made a mess. Punching one of the Celestial Dragons, that sure brough respect, but now Law had put himself in a situation he wasn’t sure about. Saving Luffy would prove useful in the long term, but right now he feared it might be trouble for his plans. As of right now Bepo was pestering him to dive, but his captain was waiting. He had to. Not only was there one of the four emperors on the battle field, but he knew Neo was there too. His mark allowed him to feel it, she’d know he was there too. Selky was by his side, the child also feeling her mother of adoption was nearby. The kid had stayed with them since a bit before the archipelago, so there was nothing weird about how she was grabbing his pants in worry. He had a hand on her head, as hard as it was with her being so tiny. As he was going to give up a dark form flew onto the ship, passing right by Admiral Kizaru. The cloak was common but the skull used as a mask was very familiar. He grabbed her and dragged her inside as they departed in a hurry.  
In normal times he would have been extremely aware of the way Neo let herself plop on the ground with a grunt, but he had to go and heal straw-hat immediately. She took her mask off and sighed, waving him off.

“Go take care of the little monkey, I’m fine.”

He still marked a pause, but Selky went to kneel next to the woman, so he guessed she was in good enough hands. He couldn’t have the kid around during the operation either. What happened next, Law missed it, but someone told him when asked. His newest crew member did not miss a single moment, and as disrespectful as it was to stare, this weird woman sure was attracting his sight. Jean Bart watched curiously as the blue haired woman asked the child to go fetch a medical emergency kit. He had seen the girl run around his new captain for the week prior to this incident; she had had quite the cute reaction when seeing him. The one he assumed to be the mother dur to their similarities let out a shaky breath and held her side tightly as soon as the kid was out of view.

“You’re ‘fine’ in this state?”

She laughed and threw a look at him.

“Don’t remember you around, you’re a new member of his crew? Dang he gets really any kind of people huh?”

She coughed up some blood and took the cloak aside, revealing a former grey dress shirt soaked in blood.

“Been fighting with my dad out there… it was so hard to try and not wound him badly that he actually got a few strikes… hehe, he would make such a face if he knew he hurt me…”

Selky came back with a tiny kit, and froze when she saw the blood. She quickly went to kneel near the adult, opening the shirt to see the damages. Jean turned his eyes away in respect, which earned him a small laugh.

“Nothing much to see, but thanks.”

The next hours were spent in the same way by both Law and Neo: closing up wounds. The only difference was that he was healing a teenager, while she was greeting her teeth as she saw herself back up. The needle and her hand were poised in blood; but she finally let out a sigh of relief when she was done. The giant man watched as the tiny child did her best to bandage Neo up, stopping sometime as if to think of what to do next. He wondered if she was imitating his captain. When this was done, against all expectations, the woman stood up, clenching her jaw at the pain. She started to walk toward the resting quarters, only turning to face him to say

“He’s your captain so you do what you want, but if you could not tell him this unprompted, I’d be grateful…doesn’t need the extra stress…”

And with that she kept walking, the child next to her making sure she kept steady. Law only came out of the operation room a good hour later. He noticed immediately neo wasn’t there but he went outside anyway, as he heard people talk on the dock. He would have been surprised to see empress Boa Hancock if he wasn’t tired after the operation. They quickly spoke, made arrangement to be authorized at Amazon Lily, and he went back inside, not really caring what would happen. A single look at Jean Bart and the tall man spoke

“She went toward the quarters an hour ago. She told me not to worry you, but from what I saw she was quite wounded…”

The doctor felt his blood freeze. God damnit when would she stop pulling stuff like that? He hurried to his room, knowing if she had gone to rest, she’d have gone there. He found her on his bed, sleeping with a forearm on her head. She was in pain in was clear, but Selky didn’t looked alarmed so he guessed she was fine. Law sat down on the bed next to the kid, who immediately let herself fall back against him. As he held her, she looked at the sleeping woman. He gently opened her dress shirt to look at the wounds, it was heavy with dry blood. He winced at what he saw, bandages soaked in blood as well, but the stiches underneath were made neatly enough. It’ll heal, but he had to clean up the cuts or it could get infected. Neo was tough, he could let her sleep a bit more. He gently patted the kid’s head and looked down at her

“Your mom’s never gonna stop making us worry, is she?”

Selky nodded before signing that she had made the bandages. He proudly smiled, relaxing a bit, as was often the case when he had the mute child with him.

“A real tiny doctor we have there. I’ll show you how to do the stiches one day”

Her smile brightened the whole room. They let Neo sleep for an hour more, playing or just waiting. Law gathered some warm water and cloth, while Selky went out of the room to play with Bepo. He gently shook the adventurer awake, smiling when she grunted and opened her eyes.

“Gotta clean the wounds. Can’t let it get to necrosis, can we?”

She sighed and forced herself half sitting, her back resting against the wall. Law gingerly started to clean the dried blood, making sure he didn’t press too much on the wounded flesh. He usually never cared about how his patient felt, all that counted was that they were healed. But for Neo it was different, every twitch of pain he got out of her made him want to hide in a hole. Yet the look in her eyes when he raised his head to face her, was the of sweetest kind of love. If he wasn’t worried, he would have had the maddest blush burning his cheeks. He put away the now dirty cloth and reached to bandage her again; somewhere in the back of his mind he thought about praising Selky again later for how good her bandages had been.

Turning back, Neo had taken off her shirt entirely, letting her scars for everyone to see. That was all there was on her torso: scars. And he got sad every time he saw the three biggest, because they only were there because he had been careless. He sighed and started to reach behind her back to start bandaging her properly; to his surprise she gently grabbed his shirt and pulled him toward her a bit more. Their noses were almost touching, and this time he couldn’t stop his blush.

“What are you doing. I need to bandage you…”  
“That can wait, got something to do first.”

Before he could ask what, she tilted her head and pressed her lips against his, sneaking her arms around his neck to keep him there. Not like he was going anywhere. The bandages were forgotten almost immediately, his hands going up to her shoulders, pulling her closer. It was sweet, it was soft. It was too quick but they had to part after a while. They stayed like this, hugging, for a few moments more. It was like the whole world had stopped spinning and it was just them. He hadn’t expected it, but he had yearned for the kiss, he had been waiting for years by now. Holding her close like this, their head resting against the other’s, he felt warmer and happier than he had ever been. One of Neo’s hand rested in his hair, gently stroking. He prayed for it to not be a dream, for if he was to wake up after this, he would probably never recover from it. Just as always, she was the first one to part from their embrace, not to go that far, just enough to lightly kiss his forehead.

“I love you Law.”  
“Love you more.”

The way she gently snorted before actually giggling melted his heart all over again. As he looked at her smiling face, slightly red from emotions, he wouldn’t have wanted his life to have been any other way, because everything had led to that very moment, and it all felt worth it. He resumed bandaging her, now in a good mood; it was an easy and quick task. Once he was sure the stiches were not going to move an inch, he kissed her forehead, barely a peck of his lips before making her lie down completely

“Now you rest, I’d better not see you standing before at least tomorrow.”  
“Yes sir, not moving and inch.”

The solemn air she had when saying this didn’t deter him in the slightest

“I’m serious, and I’m sending Selky as soon as I find her. Your wounds might not be so serious for someone that heals so fast but I don’t want you worsening you state.”  
“I even get my daughter to play guard dog, how lucky.”

She smiled fondly at him and brough the covers over her body, making herself comfortable to sleep. He left her there, having to go back to being the captain for a few hours. He’d have to make sure straw-hat was alright before thinking about anything else. They did not see each other for the rest of the day, but the memory of the kiss lingered on his lips all the same.

He thought about all this, about these four times where her warmth had reached him deeper than any other. Those were cherished memories he kept close to his heart at any time. Soon enough he’d need them more than ever, he was going to be on a mission for himself, that would mean being far away from Neo. As much as he hated it, he had his personal goals and he knew she would always support him. With a sight he forced himself on his elbows, looking to his right to see her sleeping. He couldn’t help the fond smile to spread on his lips, she was the only one with who he let himself be entirely true to his feelings. He gently pushed a wild strand of hair away from her face, admiring how peaceful she looked at that moment, resting soundly next to him. He never wanted this to end, this calm moment in the morning, where nothing was there to annoy them. Just them and nothing else. Sunlight streamed through the window, gently resting on Neo’s face. She looked angelic like this. Law had to get up and go, his crew needed him.  
Yet he still lied back down, nestling against her, his head under her chin, an arm around her waist. He could stay there for a little while more.

He felt so warm in her arms.

**Author's Note:**

> After re-reading Dressrosa my timeline doesn't make that much sense at the begining but fuck it


End file.
